Selenoxide elimination and [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement

Recent advances of the following four types of asymmetric reactions using o rganoselenium compounds are reviewed: selenoxide elimination, [2,3]sigmatro pic rearrangement via selenoxides, [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement via selen imides, and [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement via selenium ylides. In all reac tions, the preparation or the intervention of optically active organoseleni um compounds having a chiral center on the selenium atom such as selenoxide s, selenimides, and selenium ylides is shown to be essential to obtain the chiral organic compounds with high stereoselectivity.